While the invention is illustrated and described herein with reference to a currency handling system and related method, it will be understood that the invention applies to a broad range of document handling applications. Such applications include the handling of items such as currency, including monetary bills, food coupons, casino or other private printed script, travelers checks, and the like, as well as other printed coupons or other media of exchange or similar documents. That is, the invention is applicable to documents which may be identified by detection and/or verification of ascertainable attributes of the documents, which attributes are substantially the same or within some range of variance from one document to the next, such that a document of a given type can be identified or authenticated based on the comparison of the detectable attributes with one or more attributes ("master information") of a genuine document. Therefore, reference hereinafter to "document" or "currency" will be understood to include, without limitation, any and all such documents. Moreover, reference hereinto a document handling system or method or to a currency handling system or method will be understood to include, without limitation, various methods and apparatus including currency evaluation, currency authentication, currency denominating, note counting and the like.
A variety of techniques and apparatus have been used to satisfy the requirements of automated currency handling machines. At the upper end of sophistication in this area of technology are machines which are capable of rapidly identifying, discriminating and counting multiple currency denominations. This type of machine, hereinafter designated as a "denomination discriminator," typically employs either magnetic sensing or optical sensing for identifying the denominations of bills in a stack and discriminating between different currency denominations. At a lower level of sophistication in this area are machines which are designed to rapidly count the number of currency bills in a stack, but which are not designed to identify or discriminate among multiple currency denominations. This type of machine, hereinafter designated as a "counter," may include magnetic or optical sensors sufficient to enable it to discriminate between acceptable and non-acceptable bills (including counterfeit bills) in a stack of bills having a known denomination, but do not permit the machine to identify the denomination of bills or discriminate among multiple denominations of currency. Consequently, counters do not generally "know" what denomination they are counting until they are informed of the particular denomination by an external signal or operator.
Whether employed in a denomination discriminator or counter, magnetic sensing is based on detecting the presence or absence of magnetic ink in portions of the printed indicia on the currency by using magnetic sensors, usually ferrite core-based sensors, and using the detected magnetic signals, after undergoing analog or digital processing, as the basis for discrimination. The more commonly used optical sensing technique, on the other hand, is based on detecting and analyzing variations in light reflectance or transmissivity characteristics occurring when a currency bill is illuminated and scanned by a strip of focused light. The subsequent currency discrimination is based on the comparison of sensed optical or magnetic characteristics with prestored parameters relating to different currency denominations, while accounting for adequate tolerances reflecting differences among bills of a given denomination. Similarly, the acceptance or rejection of a bill is based on the comparison of sensed optical or magnetic characteristics with prestored parameters defining an acceptable bill, while accounting for adequate tolerances reflecting differences among bills of a given denomination.
Currency handling machines (e.g., denomination discriminators or counters) known in the art typically include a system memory for storing sets of stored master information associated with characteristics of the various currency denominations to be evaluated or counted. The types of master information stored in the system memory generally depend upon the denominations and types of currency which a machine is designed to accommodate. For example, it has been found that master information obtained from an optical scanning technique may be used to discriminate between different denominations of U.S. currency. An example of a currency handling machine using an optical scanning technique is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,295,196, issued Mar. 15, 1994 to Raterman et al. and assigned to Cummins-Allison Corporation, incorporated herein by reference. Currency handling machines designed to accommodate currencies of other countries may utilize different sets of stored master information to correspond to different characteristics of the foreign bills. For example, while all denominations of U.S. currency are the same size, in many other countries currencies vary in size by denomination. Furthermore, there is a wide variety of bill sizes among different countries. In addition to size, the color of currency can vary by country and by denomination. Likewise, many other characteristics may vary between bills of different countries and of different denominations.
The types or denominations of currency which a machine is able to accommodate is dependent on the content of the master information which it includes in system memory. For example, a machine designed for U.S. markets may be programmed with master information associated with magnetic and/or optical characteristics of U.S. currency, while a machine designed for a foreign market may be programmed with master information associated with the size and/or color of the foreign currency. A machine designed to handle bills of one country generally cannot handle bills from another country unless it has been provided with master information appropriate for both countries. Once programmed with the appropriate master information, the system memory may require periodic updates or supplements in order to reflect the most recent optical or magnetic characteristics of the various currency denominations to be evaluated, which may occur, for example, upon the issuance of a new series of bills.
Heretofore, the encoding or updating of master information into the system memory of currency evaluation machines (e.g., discrimination machines or counters) has been accomplished externally from the machine, typically at a factory or service center. For example, in currency evaluation machines employing memory chips such as erasable programmable read only memories (EPROMs or EEPROMs), the chips are typically programmed or updated at the factory or service center and either installed in the machine at the factory or, in the case of updates, shipped to the customer or service personnel for re-installation in the machine. An alternative method of encoding or updating prestored parameters may be utilized in discrimination machines employing "flash card" technology, such as described in U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 08/715,029, assigned to the assignee of the present invention and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. In such a "flash card" loading system, a flash card is programmed with the desired code and the machine may be encoded or updated by inserting the flash card into the machine, causing the system memory to become replaced with the flash card memory. Nevertheless, in either of the above prior systems, the source of the code is external to the machine, typically at the factory or service center level, and the discrimination capability of a particular machine is limited to only those bills associated with the pre-stored master information with which it has been programmed.
Accordingly, in view of the above-described problems, there is a need for a currency handling system that is able to accommodate currencies of several denominations and types, including multiple denominations and types of foreign currencies, without having been externally programmed or updated with pre-stored master information associated with those denominations and types. The present invention is directed to satisfying these needs.